# loose tobacco and humidors



## seymour (Mar 16, 2007)

I can't seem to find better than speculative answers to this question 
anywhere else I've looked on the net, so I was hoping you might be able to help me.
I was wondering if anyone here has had experience storing "loose" tobacco (such as pipe tobacco or cigarette tobacco) in a humidor. I recently purchased my first humidor with the intention of storing my cigarette tobacco in it (I smoke a pipe on occasion but mostly roll/inject my own - obviously the pipe tobacco won't be making it in at 65% rh) and while I wait for it to season I am left with a few questions:
Can I store the tobacco loose in the humidor, or should I store it in containers in the humidor?
If I can store it loose, how does cleaning work out (how much of a problem is "shake" or "dust")?
In the case that I can't store the tobacco loose I intend on using plastic containers with plenty of holes poked through to maintain circulation. Maybe you have a better idea?
Thanks in advanced and hurray for my first post here.


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## IHT (Dec 27, 2003)

i would not put pipe tobacco in a cigar humidor.
if you have containers, don't poke holes in them for "circulation", as i might cause them to dry out a helluva lot faster than the aging process will help the tobacco (so, you'd hurt it rather than help it).

most guys here who keep loose tobacco put it in ceramic jars, or mason jars... either with flip top lids or with screw on lids, all with tight seals.


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## seymour (Mar 16, 2007)

IHT said:


> if you have containers, don't poke holes in them for "circulation", as i might cause them to dry out a helluva lot faster than the aging process will help the tobacco (so, you'd hurt it rather than help it).


really? i thought that it being in a humidor would help maintain moisture content?


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## IHT (Dec 27, 2003)

seymour said:


> really? i thought that it being in a humidor would help maintain moisture content?


being in a sealed container will help maintain it better. most tobacco's are shipped too wet to smoke. 65% RH is too wet for pipe tobacco as well.

then, factor in the smell of the pipe tobacco being forever embeded in your humidor.


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## inept (Jun 22, 2006)

A cigar humidor's definitely too moist for pipe tobacco. If your tobacco comes in a vacuum packed screw-top tin, that'll be a good storage place for it. I transfer tobaccos that come in plain old tins to glass wire-bail jars and they stay appropriately humidified for way longer than it takes to finish them.


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## seymour (Mar 16, 2007)

to be certain i have no intention of storing pipe tobacco in the humidor, just cigarette tobacco.

any one given it a shot (or maybe you've used one of those pipe tobacco humidors that work around 40% rh that i've heard of but have never seen)?


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## seymour (Mar 16, 2007)

bump


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## Ultravox (Jan 4, 2007)

IHT said:


> most guys here who keep loose tobacco put it in ceramic jars, or mason jars... either with flip top lids or with screw on lids, all with tight seals.


:tpd: I don't smoke cigarettes and so I'm inexperienced with rolling tobacco and it's properties.

Will you be storing cigars in the humi or just rolling tobacco? If it's just the latter, I would have thought that an air-tight jar or container will be more appropriate? My father rolls his own cigarettes and, whilst the tobacco never lasts very long, the re-sealable pouches that the tobacco comes in seems to do the trick. Surely an air-tight container will be equal to, if not better, than the pouches and that way you can ensure the quality of any cigars that you may intend to place in the humi. :2


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## n2advnture (Aug 9, 2004)

From my research, I have found that 40% RH is best for storing pipe tobacco.

Do you guys believe this to be true?

I have developed a Puck-ifier specifically for storing pipe tobacco and have 40% RH Pucks ready to go. 

I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

~Mark


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## SUOrangeGuy (Feb 22, 2006)

n2advnture said:


> From my research, I have found that 40% RH is best for storing pipe tobacco.
> 
> Do you guys believe this to be true?
> 
> ...


I also have heard the 40% thing but I tend to keep everything in mason jars without humidification. When I open a jar I feel the tobacco to make sure its pliable and packable. If its dry (which is rare) I add a small spritz of distilled water and give it a shake. In my experience this is all I need.

With the beads I would be afraid of strong flavors permeating the beads and making them bad for people who like to switch blends. They sound great for those that buy one or two bulk or large tin blends and only smoke them.


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## Canadian_Scott (Feb 11, 2007)

When I smoked cigarettes I used to roll my own. I haven't tried using a humidor before though ...

Just as an experiment, I put a bunch of old, stale cigarette tobacco in a glass pickling jar, taped a wedge of apple to the inside of the lid, screwed it on, then left it for a few days. The tobacco absorbed most of the moisture from the apple chunk, leaving it very shrivelled and dry. I guess what this means is that, whatever moisture is in the jar when you seal it, the tobacco will absorb that moisture. So, if you're storing tobacco that has a moisture content that you enjoy, you can probably leave it for quite some time in storage before it begins to lose any moisture. If it is too moist, you may have to leave it to sit on a piece of paper or something for awhile to get it where you want it for rolling.

If you don't want to use mason or pickling jars, and need to use a humidor, I don't think I'd store it loose ... even if the tobacco is really moist, I'm guessing that shake will become an issue over time and I've read a number of posts on different forums that say you shouldn't wipe down the inside of a humidor with a wet rag or anything ... Not sure how true it is, and don't really understand why you wouldn't be able to. Anyways, that may lead to issues with cleaning it, so maybe it'd be best to try storing it in ziploc baggies in the humidor, or at least lining the inside of the humidor with something?

Anyways, sorry if I wasn't much help.


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## seymour (Mar 16, 2007)

thanks everyone for the suggestions

i had been storing my rolling tobacco in mason jars until i purchased the humidor. while jars provide a mostly suitable solution they would sometimes leave my tobacco too dry (or often too moist after rehumidifying) for "stuffing" or rolling and didn't guarantee a consistent rh between tobaccos (this has a huge impact on blending tobaccos as moisture content will determine weight), and so i became interested in a humidor as it ought to maintain the tobacco at an rh of my choice.

i started out storing my tobacco "loose" in the humidor by lining the different compartments (produced by the dividers) with plastic wrap so as to avoid having shake all over my humidor (you don't want to take a wet cloth or sponge to the humidor as it will raise/roughen the grain - i don't know what the implication here is beyond the look and feel - i suppose the rough grain might risk tearing open a cigar?). i stored my blends in plastic bags in the included tray. while this method produced cigarettes that would roll, inject and blend _perfectly_ (so, so, so much better than the rudimentary humidifying methods i had used before - wet napkins and fruit and the like), i felt the taste of the spanish cedar was a bit overwhelming and am now moving towards putting open-top jars within the humidor. hopefully this works out - i'll post updates for the poor sap who, like me, spent a lot of time googling for answers with no results (!).
the truth is that doing this is mostly unheard of - i've talked to tobacco store owners, people on the syo.dalrun.com forums, even the editor of ryo magazine and while nobody thinks it's a particularly bad idea they all left me with the impression that i'm some sort of idiot (don't get me wrong - all kind and courteous people) as glass jars or plastic containers and coolers seem to be the standard. however, a day or two ago i discovered i was not the only one to try this method as one fella at syo.dalrun.com (see tobacco -> hydrating) decided to make his own humidor. his design used open top jars and is the reason i am encouraged to follow suit.

p.s. *n2advnture/suorangeguy* - as i understand it the beads generally have an odor-neutralizing quality - at least in my experience so far they haven't retained any smell. but, as you can see, i don't really know what i'm talking about.

p.p.s. *ultravox* - you might wanna tell your dad to buy some mason jars. while the pouches work out okay, storing cigarette tobacco in a jar will retain the cut and moisture of the tobacco weeks longer than a pouch will. i used to buy by the pouch and throw it away when it turned too shakey (a week or two), but after trying jars i could not believe that i had allowed myself to smoke pouch tobacco any longer than two days after opening it (i did not even realize just how stale my tobacco would become as it happened _so_ quickly). stored in a jar the tobacco should maintain it's "just-opened" qualities for weeks, and the difference is dramatic. i imagine he'll really appreciate it. (i would still be using jars if i hadn't started buying in bulk and blending my own)


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## seymour (Mar 16, 2007)

for the googler (apologies for the bump)

the open top jar method is ideal. there is little to no mixing of flavors (with any method i've mentioned). perhaps i was just adjusting to the taste of spanish cedar but i no longer notice any negative impart on the taste of even with my most subtle tobaccos and even those stored "loose" prior to my using jars (it is actually quite pleasant).

in short, if you're tired of conditioning your tobacco before you inject or roll and being forced to produce a day's worth (or a carton's worth) before you can smoke one, spend a little money on a humidor. mine was only fifty dollars on ebay (a bargain given cigar smokers usually spend hundreds) and it is worth every penny as it produces better tasting, longer lasting and easier to handle tobacco.


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## tzaddi (Feb 24, 2007)

I am currently storing 6 Cohiba (good cedar) cigar boxes full of shredded tobacco from last years tobacco harvest. It is mostly the remains from my long filler cigar rolling adventures. They sit at the bottom of my 165 QT coolerdor as a grand experiment in aging. I take them out once in a while and give them a whiff to check on there progress.

I do not smoke cigarettes but I will give the tobacco a taste as it progresses. I know that when I kept the loose tobacco at lower huimidities it was susceptible to crumbling and breakdown. I figure good tobacco is good tobacco and so it gets a respectable place in my humidor.

I do however keep any and all flavored tobacco apart from the general cigar population. (what, not everyone keeps a few CAO or Drew Estates flavors on hand) 

That is my personal experience:2 :2 :2


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## JonnySlingblade (Jan 2, 2006)

tzaddi said:


> I do however keep any and all flavored cigars apart from the general cigar population. (what not everyone keeps a few CAO or Drew Estates on hand)


That's a very important point. I love the KubaKuba's but they will do funky things to your other cigars. Cellophane helps a little...

Woops kinda off-topic. To be honest. plastic bags in a paper bag in a dark place away from air (for me, the bottom drawer of my dresser) has worked in my experience. Once I start buying large quantities of a single blend, like that delicious Pirate Kake I've been having, I'm gonna wanna go with a mason jar or something more secure. But in terms of smaller bags, multiple varieties, its smooth sailing thus far.


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